A number of figures are associated with Christmas and the seasonal giving of gifts. Among these are Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus (derived from the Dutch for Saint Nicholas), Père Noël.

Saint Nicholas traditionally appeared in bishop's attire, accompanied by helpers, inquiring about the behaviour of children during the past year before deciding whether they deserved a gift or not. The modern popular image of Santa Claus, however, was created in the United States, and in particular in New York. The transformation was accomplished with the aid of notable contributors including Washington Irving and the German-American cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840–1902). Following the American Revolutionary War, some of the inhabitants of New York City sought out symbols of the city's non-English past. New York had originally been established as the Dutch colonial town of New Amsterdam and the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition was reinvented as Saint Nicholas.

Current tradition in several Latin American countries (such as Venezuela and Colombia) holds that while Santa makes the toys, he then gives them to the Baby Jesus, who is the one who actually delivers them to the children's homes, a reconciliation between traditional religious beliefs and the iconography of Santa Claus imported from the United States.

如果说商品是人与人之间的空间之链，那么，圣诞节礼物就是人与人之间的时间之链。在这个特别的日子里，圣诞礼物

把孩子们从封闭的小家庭带进了一个广阔的世界。在那里，每个人都与无数的陌生者和谐相处。而来自遥远北极的圣诞

老人，从小就打开了孩子们通往这个广阔世界的窗户。

随着各国文化的交流，圣诞节送礼物已经接近成为一个全球通行的习惯了。传说中，圣诞老人总是在平安夜乘着驯鹿拉

圣诞老人通常喜欢将圣诞节礼物放到袜子中，所以小朋友们总是早早准备好圣诞袜，一双红色的大袜子，晚上睡觉前将

圣诞袜挂在床头，等待第二天早上收圣诞礼物。大人们则准备好了圣诞帽，是一顶红色的帽子。可不要小看了这顶帽子

，很神奇哦。据说晚上戴上它睡觉除了暖和睡得香甜外，天亮还会在帽子中发现心爱的人送的圣诞礼物。

在西方，不管是不是基督教徒，圣诞节的时候都要准备一棵圣诞树，来增加节日的气氛。圣诞树一般用杉树、柏树之类的常青树做成，象征着生命长存。树上用彩花、星星、彩灯、玩具装饰，挂着各种各样的。圣诞之夜，人们围着圣诞树唱歌跳舞。